Strap fastener



Patented Nov. 21, 1922.

".,AUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALLACE D. KIMBALL, OF YORK,

N. AND oHAELEs G. MOETIMER, E

HARRISON, NEW JERSEY, Assieivoas, EY tiEsnE ASSIGNMENTS, To NAsHUA GUMMED a. COATED PAPER COMPANY, or NASHUA, NEW HAiarsnraE, A

' l CORPORATIONv 0E MASSACHUSETTS.

STRAP FASTENER.

Original application led March 1, 1917, Serial No. 151,634. Divided and this l s, i919. serial No. 275,812. 1

To all inkom.- z't may cofricewt:l Be itknown that we, l/VALLACE D. KTM- BALL and CHARLES G. *MoRTnv'rEin both citizens of the United States, and residents of the city,eounty, and State of New York, andHarriSon, Hudson County, New Jersey, respectively, have invented new and useful Improvements-in AStrap Fastenersof which the Vfollowing is a specification. w

This invention `relates to improvements in fasteners for bale bands and box straps,

and the sealed Ajoints formed thereby, and

. has forits object to provide a strong and easilyy applied fastener whichmay be very cheaply made and which will form a secure- 1y sealed joint in box straps and bale bands of the common kind. y

The invention 'of this application constitutes an improvement on the joint and fastener disclosed in U. S. Patent. No. 1.265,188, granted May 7, 1918 to E. E. Flora` the chief advantage of the present fastener being that it lmay be formed of sheet metal by a simple stamping operation whereby it may be produced? at a cost'very little greater than the actuall cost of the material,l the fastener formi-ng a joint quite as strong as the coiled Wire joint of the Florak paten j This application constitutes a division of our reopending application Ser. No. 151,634, filed March 1, 1917, splicedv joint for' bale bands.

In the accompanying drawings we have illustrated a'preferred embodiment of the invention and also a modified structure.

In the said drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of our preferred form of fastener;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the fastener and the connected ends of the band or strap;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig, 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective'view of the modi fied form of fastener; and

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through the modified form of fastener and the connected strap ends. ,A

Referring to the drawings, particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, 1 and 2 indicate respectively two ends of the bale band or box strap to be joined by the fastener. The

application led February fastener formed of a `strip of sheet metal somewhat wider than the strapsand of a length threeor four times its width. The sheet metal strip is formed with a series of transverse Slots 3 of a length equal tothe width of the straps and terminating short of the edges ofl the sheet metal so that the fastener has continuous uncut margins d on each edge.

The slots are preferably formedv by cutting out a narrow piece of metal from each slot and the alternate bridge pieces 5 formed between the slots are pressed'in opposite directions so that in the finished fastener, as shown in Fig. 1, there is an unobstructed passage extending longitudinally of the fas` vtener between the uncut margins of a depth suicient for the ends of the strap or band to .be thrust in lapped relation between the staggered bridge pieces. j

In applying'the fastener to the lstraps the strap ends are assembled in the fastener in the manner described with every other bridge piece lying onl one side of the lapped strap ends and the alternate :bridge pieces lying on the other side. The fastener and the ssembled straps are then flattened by a hammer blow or preferably in a sealing tool which tends to force the staggered bridge pieces back into the saine plane, thereby clamping and corrugating the strap ends together. in the manner shown in Fig, 2. The'metal of the strap ends and-the fastener is sufliciently inelastic to be permanently distorted by the compression of the fastener, ,thereby interlocking and permanently fastening the parts so that the strap can be taken off only by destroying the fas*- tener or cutting the strap.

Our improved fastener may be pressed until substantially fiat without danger of rupturing the fastener, for the reason that the flattening pressure tends to restore the sheet metal to its original shape rather than further bend it, as in the case of the coiled wire fastener of the Flora patent, and we have found in practice that a very strong joint may be secured with comparatively light metal.

In our modified form of fastener the straps are not overlapped inthefastener as above described, but each strap end is secured by a different part of the fastener, the purpose of -which is to facilitate drawing the strap tightly around the box, as pointed out in our above mentioned copending application. As here shown the fastener comprises margins 7 with alternate staggered bridge pieces 8, the same as in the preferred modification. The fastener is, however,

somewhat longer, and at approximately its middle point one of the bridge pieces has its edge turned up as shown at 9 to form a stop for one end of the box strap, that is, the box strap 2 thrust in from the left as shown in the drawing, and to also form a deflector lfor theother end ofthe box strap to cause it vwhen thrust into the fastener to be deflected `through the slot adjacent the stop and beneath the other end of the fastener as shown in Fig. 5, in which the fastener 'is illustrated as attached to the straps. The stop 9 is'easily formed in the manufacture of the yfastener by suitably shaping thecuttin die which cuts the slot in the middle to,- eave `one edge uncut so that the piece forming the stop will be turned up by the action of the die instead of punched out in the usual manner.

In applying this form of fastener to the strap the strap bands will be assembled in the fastener in the manner described and drawn as tightly as can be done by hand. A stretching tool will then be applied to the ends of the band oneach side of the fastener 'and the ends drawn together, thereby thrusting the end 3 of the band further under the opposite end of the fastener until the band or strap is drawn tightly against the box. While the strap .is held tight by the stretching tool the crimper or sealing tool is applied or the fastener otherwise flattened to crimp the parts together.

Claims:

1. A sealed joint comprisingmetal strips with permanent close corrugations and a sealing fastener surrounding said strips, said sealing fastener having a pair of longitudinal members extending along the edge of the strips and transverse members connecting said longitudinal members, said transverse members lyingffalternately in the depressions on opposite sides of the corrugations in firmly compressed relation there- -with and substantially in the same plane.

2. A sealing fastener for metal straps consisting of a-single strip ofsheet metal comprising a pair of longitudinal members, a series of spaced transverse members connecting said longitudinal members, said trans-y verse members being alternately offset in opposite directions to provide'fan openpa'ssageway between the alternate transverse members for the reception of a flat box strap, the spacedtransverse members at one side of said passagewaybeing narrbwer than the spaces between the adjacent members at-the other side of said passageway.

3. A sealing fastener fory metal "straps comprising a pair of longitudinal members, ai series of spaced transverse members connecting said vlongitudinal members, said transverse members being alternately offset in opposite `directions to provide 1an open f passageway between the alternate transverse members for the reception `of al flat box strap, and means adjacent one ofsaid transverse members for `deflecting theend of one of the straps to be joined'outofy pasl sageway. l

4. A sealing fastener 'for metal straps comprising va pair of longitudinal members, a series of spaced transverse members connectingv said longitudinal members, `said l transverse members being lalteri'la't'ely `offset in opposite directions toy provide "an" open passageway between the alternate transverse members for the reception-cfa Haft/'box strap,

and means intermediate the vends 'of said'fastener for stopping (the yend of one of the straps to be joined and deflecting the Sendlof the other strap out of said"passageway,I,

Signed at New York'v city, vin the county and State of New York, this 7th `dayof 

